Unbreakable
by Abraxos
Summary: Certain events force Naruto to realize he must find a new path in order to reach his goal of becoming Hokage, though he's going to need a little help from his friends, and a certain blonde. Primarily Naruto/Temari. An OC is present but Naruto will be the main focus. M for violence to be safe.


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters associated with its story.

The desert sands sat eerily still as the painted puppeteer slowly walked his usual route. It was a blistering hot day in Suna, and Kankuro was growing tired of it. " _Why couldn't I be born in Amegakure_?" he jokingly thought to himself as he made his way to the northern edge of his village's territory.

He was beginning to celebrate how this part of the patrol marked the half way point of his unit's rotation. While dwelling on this, he made a mental note to laugh at his sister when it was finally her turn to go out for a weeks time again.

It had been another slow shift for him and the rest of his squad, and it wasn't looking like it would speed up anytime soon. His village may have been on high alert ever since their leader was kidnapped, but things were beginning to die down now that a good amount of time had passed.

As he expected, nothing but barren desert was all that awaited him. Silently thanking God once again for his easy shift, he began to turn around and head back to his team's border fort. While thinking about the various forms of maintenance that his puppets required, he was suddenly pulled from his mental checklist by one of his subordinates.

"Captain Kankuro!" The brown haired girl called out.

"Huh? What is it Matsuri?" the annoyance clear in his voice as he turned around to see what the young girl needed.

"I-I think there's a body out there half covered in sand!"

The Jounin dug into his pocket for his binoculars.

"What? I didn't see anyth-" before he could finish his eyes went wide as he saw a pair of legs laying lifelessly in the distance.

"Damn, hurry!" he commanded as he sprinted off toward what he could only assume was a corpse, his team quick to follow.

"Help me get this sand off of him!" Without hesitation, the five-man group began tossing sand in all directions. After three minutes of digging, they had finally pulled the body out.

"Captain! His forehead protector!" a young man exclaimed.

" _He's from Konoha..._ " the Jounin thought to himself, while gritting his teeth. " _What is he doing all the way out here without any supplies?"_

Just as Konkuro was about to search the corpse for any sign of what happened, the leaf-nin suddenly took hold his arm, shocking Konkuro and his team in the process.

"W-w-water..." the man begged as the patrol squad looked on in pity.

"You're still alive?! Okay! Let's get him to the border fort!" he commanded. "I want to at least get his story in case he doesn't make it!"

-Border Fort-

It was now dark out and the desert was beginning to cool under the starry night sky.

The man they had found had been going in and out of consciousness for a few hours now and every time the squad thought they would get an explanation out of him, he would inevitably fall back into darkness.

"Dehydration is a horrible thing..." Matsuri stated. And unfortunately, it was something that the citizens of Suna knew all too well.

"Damn, this is getting us no where" Konkuro cursed as he stared at the man, "and the village is at least 18 hours away from our current position, and that's WITHOUT a severely wounded and dehydrated ninja with us."

As he was deciding who he should send back to bring medical aid, the man began to speak again.

"N-Naru..." he whimpered.

Matsuri and the young man next to her, who were in charge of hydrating the man and tending to his wounds, were suddenly shoved out of the way by their captain.

"Hey!" Kankuro yelled at the now unconscious man. "Naruto? Were you about to say Naruto?!" He began violently shaking the leaf-nin as he demanded answers.

As the rest of his team desperately tried to get their leader away from the bed, the wounded ninja began to speak more coherently. Konkuro's 'remedy' had worked, at least for a few moments.

"W-we were ambushed..." the leaf nin began, "there were four enemy shinobi following us..." he began coughing up blood as he attempted to report what happened.

"The four shinobi picked us off..." he began again while heaving for air, "one at a t-time." After taking a few moments he continued, "Naruto and I were the last two when-" more blood began to fly out of his mouth as he violently coughed again. Realizing his life was at its end, he mustered the last of his strength.

"They t-took h-him. Please, you have to find him!" the man yelled, tears welling in his eyes.

"Where? Which way did your team come from?" Konkuro asked, fists clenched. He knew the man wasn't going to make it.

"F-from the land of ear-" the man fell unconscious for the final time, as he lay lifelessly on the bed.

As sweat began to drip from Konkuro's face he was starting to realize the situation he was in. After processing what the now deceased man had told them, he inferred that they should head north to the land of earth. " _But the land of earth is huge. There would be no point_!" he thought as he began to lose hope.

"Captain! We deciphered the most recent entry in the journal we found in his vest!"

Konkuro let out a slight sigh of relief before snatching the piece of paper out of the man's hands and reading it's contents.

"They left the earth village and were on their way to Suna to deliver Konoha's updated bingo book." As he continued reading he put the piece of paper down and addressed his team.

"Matsuri." He calmly began.

"Y-yes sir!" the girl nervously replied.

"Listen to me very carefully. I need you to head back to Suna as fast as you can and inform the Kazekage that Naruto Uzumaki has been taken, and that the rest of the squad and I have gone ahead. Tell my brother that we have headed north and that I will leave guide posts to show whatever team he decides to send where we will be, do you understand?"

Matsuri nodded with anxiousness. She wouldn't fail this mission.

As she took off to the south, Konkuro and the remainder of his team prepared the rest of their supplies before dashing to the north.

" _Hang on Naruto..._ " he thought, praying that he wasn't too late.

-Oasis Town to the North-

A light sand storm had begun to hit the small town. A man with a dark blue cloak, undoubtedly to shield his face from incoming sand wandered in. He made his way through the various streets, coming upon the exact place he was looking for, an inn.

As he entered through the front door, he was surprised to find that he had walked into what appeared to be an inn with a restaurant on the first floor. While admiring the design of the interior, he was greeted from from across the room by an older man through a kitchen window.

"I'll be right with you in a second" said the older man.

The individual nodded and began removing his covering.

As the old man walked up to the visitor, the first thing he noticed was how muscular he was compared to his usual guests. He was a young man with an average height that couldn;t have been more then 5'11'' (180 cm), with thick brown hair that seemed to go off in every direction. He had grey eyes that were not easily missed and his body was bulky, thick, and tone, built as if he had been training for years. He wore a dark blue t shirt that had the sleeves ripped off and it could probably have been considered a tank top if it weren't for the muscle mass the kid had. His fists were wrapped in a white fabric as if they needed protection. His black pants were as baggy as his usual guest's, but unlike the shinobi, he had almost no pockets. All of this was topped off with what appeared to be a simple pair of running shoes.

"What can I do for you, son?" The owner greeted him.

"Say pops," the guy smirked while rubbing the back of his head, "do you think you can spot me a meal and a room for the night if I help out with any chores you might have?"

"Oh." The old man deadpanned. He had dealt with this type before, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence since most who entered the desert were ill prepared for just how harsh the terrain could get. When you drink all your water within the first two days of your three to four day trip, you start getting desperate.

However, most of the individuals who tried mooching off of him were either skinny shinobi, or out of country visitors with relatives in Suna. In either case, none of them were usually of much help to him since all the chores they could do, he could do himself. But this kid had actually come at a perfect time.

"Tell you what, son. I have a chimney on the back of the building that collapsed not too long ago thanks to a sand storm and I'm afraid the rocks are too heavy for me in my old age. Judging by the looks of you though, they shouldn't be much of a challenge. Think you can help me out? If so, I'll gladly let you stay the night."

"No problem." he said confidently with a smirk, "to be honest, I was expecting you to chase me out with a broom like all the other inn keepers I asked!" He said while confidently laughing at a volume level the old man considered a little too loud.

"Yes. Well. If you want to leave your things here, it's just right around the back of the building. All I need is the stones neatly stacked up against the wall so that they don't get buried under the sand."

The young man nodded with a grin and removed the pack he had slung over his shoulder with one hand. As the bag hit the floor the old man couldn't help but take note at how heavy it seemed. "Great, another odd one" he thought to himself.

-later-

It was just turning dark as he placed the last stone up against the wall. After admiring his work, he headed inside and up the stairs to the room the old man instructed him to.

Upon walking into his room, he was pleasantly surprised by how cozy it was. By the lack of noise, he guessed he was one of the few guests in the structure. This ultimately made him feel a little bad, but hey when you have no money and no food, what can you do, right?

As he changed into his sleeping attire of sweat pants and a tank top, he couldn't help but thank his good luck " _one less night dealing with sand and scorpions_ " he thought with a smile before drifting off.

-Underground Chamber Somewhere North of Suna-

The blonde Jinchuriki was hanging from the low ceiling of what appeared to be an old cavern, with rusted chains and cuffs holding him up as if he were on a meat hook. The two figures who stood in front of him had slaughtered his entire 5-man unit and brought him back here for 'questioning.'

"How long are you going to protect him?" the taller man asked.

"You don't owe any loyalty to the other jinchuriki, little Kyubi." the other man stated.

"We've been doing this for 2 days now and it's starting to get annoying. Just tell us where the 6-tails is and we'll hand you to our leaders and you can finally be put out of your suffering." said the taller man.

"N-no. I don't care what y-you do to me..." Naruto defiantly stated. He may have had to gasp for air between every word but he would not break, especially to a couple of subordinates who weren't even full fledged Akatsuki members.

"How sad," began the shorter man, "I didn't want to believe it, but you truly are a fool."

"I guess we'll begin the torture again then. It must be really troublesome having all your wounds healed so quickly. It does make this rather fun though." the taller man said with a sinister grin that could only be described as pure evil.

"I w-wont giv-" before he could finish his statement, Naruto felt the molten hot end of a metal pike pierce his left side. Knowing that nobody even knew where they were, all he could do was scream out in agony.

-Morning-

It was barely the crack of dawn when the old man was done cooking breakfast for his guests. Not knowing if the young man who came in yesterday knew he was welcome to some pancakes, the inn keeper went upstairs to ask. What he found however was an empty room with the bed neatly folded back the way he left it and a sheet of paper on the nightstand.

"Thanks for the delicious grub last night! I'll pay you back someday!"

"I never even learned his name." The old man said aloud as he smirked at the paper in his hand.

The wanderer was making his way south to Suna and he had no time to waste.

-Suna-

Gaara was reading his new reports for the day while enjoying his morning coffee. He had swung by Temari's house last night and had enjoyed a nice dinner with his elder sister. He couldn't help but smile slightly when recalling how the two of them joked about how Konkuro was probably shriveled up under the desert sky somewhere, questioning why he hadn't been born in Amegakure.

Just when he was about to move on to filling out paper work he sensed Matsuri barreling up the stairs to his office.

"Lord Kazekage!" the girl yelled after opening the door, tears in her eyes. It was clear she hadn't slept for at least 24 hours.

"Yes Matsuri?" he asked.

"T-there's been trouble on our northern border! There was a Chunin from K-Konoha," Gaara was all ears at this point, "and apparently him and his squad with Naruto were ambushed!"

"What?" Gaara questioned as he began equipping his goard.

"And Naruto has been k-kidnapped!" the girl stated, trying to catch her breath. She felt terrible about being the one to tell her idol that his best friend was taken to who knows where, having who knows what done to him.

"Tell Baki everything you know and to call an emergency meeting, NOW!" He commanded. His usual composure wasn't going to cut it, not when Naruto's life was on the line.

"Understood! What about you Lord Kazekage?" the young girl asked, out of worry that he might be too rash.

"I'm going to find Kankuro and his team, I'm the fastest on the sand and we don't have time to wait..."

"You can't just-" but before she could finish, he had already left through the open window.

-Suna Council Hall-

Temari had been summoned and was not sure why, but judging by the commotion of all the people in the Council Hall, she guessed it wasn't for a joyous occasion.

"Attention everyone," Baki loudly began, trying to calm the crowd, "we have received a troubling report from the northern border patrol unit." The mass of people began to quiet down.

"A group of ninja from Konoha, including Naruto Uzumaki, had been on their way to our village when they were ambushed by five assailants. None in the unit survived except for two as far as we know. One being the man who gave the report to Konkuro's unit, and the other being Uzumaki himself."

The room began to mutter among themselves about how it would look that Konoha shinobi had died on their lands.

After clearing his throat in an attempt to quiet the room, Baki continued. "As many of you have been hearing, yes, Naruto has most likely been taken and is being held somewhere."

The room was silent after this piece of news. Everyone knew what happened to shinobi who were captured. It was either bite your tongue or be tortured until you begged for death's release.

"Is it Akatsuki again?!" a man shouted.

"We are unaware, however the fact that Naruto might have been taken suggests that yes, this most likely is the work of Akatsuki."

"Where is Lord Kazekage!?" one of the Jounin demanded.

"The Kazekage has taken it upon himself to meet up with our team already in the field and aid them in what will hopefully be Naruto's rescue." Baki knew the flood gates had been opened after this statement.

"Unacceptable!"

"We have teams specifically for tracking missing shinobi!"

"The Kazekage left without an escort?!"

The crowd was not pleased, and neither was Temari from what Baki could see. Sure, she understood that Naruto was the person who managed to change her brother's ways, but that didn't mean he had to go right back into the jaws of their enemy after what had happened to him just six months ago.

"I will update you all as we obtain more information, thank you."

The roar of the crowd only got louder as Baki stepped down from his council seat.

Temari was the first one to approach him as he exited into the hallway.

"I wish he would have at least informed me, his flesh and blood, before he left." Temari had a tick mark on her head as she gritted her teeth in frustration. She knew he had to go though, every second counts when dealing with a possible hostage situation, and she also knew that the low survival rate was, more often than not, caused by bickering and infighting on which team to send or whether they should send a team at all.

As the blond wind-mistress walked up to a window that overlooked the village, with worry in her voice all she could manage to say was "be safe you two, and bring him back."


End file.
